Lighting systems have been incorporated into footwear, generating distinctive flashing lights when a person wearing the footwear walks or runs. These systems generally have an inertia switch, so that when the heel of a runner strikes the pavement, the switch activates the flashing light system. The resulting light flashes are useful in identifying the runner, or at least the presence of the runner, due to the easy-to-see nature of the flashing lights.
These lighting systems, however, suffer from a number of deficiencies. There is typically no on-off switch for the lighting system, and thus the system is “on” all the time, draining the power source, which is typically a small battery. Even if the only portion of the system that is operating is an oscillator or timer, the power drain over time is cumulative, this leading to shorter-than-desirable battery life. It would be desirable to have some other means for turning the lighting system on or off, especially through the use of an external motion.
Another deficiency is that many flashing or intermittent light systems only have one light pattern. While one light pattern makes the user more visible, there is no provision for varying or making the pattern interesting dependent on the type of movement of the user. It would be desirable to have some system for activating different light patterns depending on the type of movement of the user.
Yet another deficiency in current lighting systems is that most systems use a single integrated circuit to implement all the functions of the system. Due to the fact that an integrated circuit normally has only one cutoff operation voltage, when the voltage level of the power source for the system descends below the cutoff operation voltage over time, the lighting system stops working all together. It would be desirable to have a system which implements multiple integrated circuits so that, as the voltage level of the power source of the system decreases over time, only those functions which require a large voltage level will cease to operate while the functions which require a small voltage level will continue to operate. This ability to adapt to the decreasing voltage level could extend the operating life of the system.
Another deficiency is that many components that currently make up lighting systems are made with toxic components that do not meet environmental regulations of many countries. Due to the fact lighting systems are incorporated in footwear, it is especially desirable for lighting systems to be made of components that are non-toxic, and therefore not harmful to those wearing the shoes. Additionally, when shoes become worn out and are discarded, it is desirable for the components in the shoes to be made of materials that will not be harmful to the environment. Therefore, it is desirable to have a lighting system for footwear made of non-toxic components that meet environmental regulations of many countries. The present invention is directed at correcting these deficiencies in the prior art.